Exactly WHEN is the slowdown coming?

So where, you ask, have I been?  That's a complicated question to answer.  Is it ever simple?  

The Little Nguyens have been having a fabulous summer, as they should.  I took them to Nebraska to see Grandma, the aunts, and a few cousins (sure to go down in travel history as the my-9-year-old-and-6-year-old-have-been-awake-for-23-hours-and-what-else-could-go-wrong trip).  That took us awhile to recover from, although I'm not sure any of us can ever truly "forget" it.  Then, we plunged into swim season with at least one but sometimes two-a-day practices, splashed around for what seemed like endless afternoons with friends, and hot & sticky Tuesday night swim meets where we all wanted to fling ourselves into the water fully clothed!  Aahhh...good times.  The 4th of July seemed like a blur, but that really fun afternoon playing Marco Polo in the pool and cooking out with Aunt Susan and Uncle John won't be forgotten. Amidst all of this, my two little balls of energy relaxed and played and read while I spent nearly every spare moment of my time planning PandaMania VBS for 240 at church!

So, that's where we've been.  I'm still waiting for the slowdown of summer. Somehow, though, I think the "slowing down" was scheduled in tiny spurts of lazy Saturday mornings and late Sunday afternoons by the pool.  But I guess that's how it's supposed to be.  It makes me appreciate those slow-paced moments even more, because in the coming years I am told they will grow fewer and farther between.  When do 9- and 6-year old boys and their parents ever slow down, you ask?  When they sleep.